Friday night ended uncharacteristically early at Bacchanalwhen, according to owner Chris Rudge, the popular Bywater destination was shut down after New Orleans police officers, sanitation inspectors and members of the Fire Department paid the business a visit around 9 p.m.

View full sizeDinah Rogers, The Times-PicayunePatrons enjoy wine, food and live music on the patio at Bacchanal in New Orleans in April.

“Quality-of-life officers showed up, along with a few other police officers, and told us that we were no longer allowed to pour wine by the glass or open bottles for customers,” Rudge said.

The closure, he said, was prompted by an occupational license that mistakenly identified Bacchanal as a grocery instead of a bar. The business remained closed for the weekend but reopened Monday after Rudge visited City Hall to obtain the proper occupational license, which he displayed on the wall next to Bacchanal’s cash register. He said he hadn’t noticed the error in his license until Friday night.

While Bacchanal is open for business, its future is far from certain. Live music has been suspended, at least until Rudge can obtain the proper permitting to stage it.

Same goes for food, save for cheese and crackers.

Bacchanal began serving food prepared by guest chefs on a mobile outdoor kitchen after Hurricane Katrina. Its popularity was underscored by an appearance in the HBO series “Treme.”

Earlier this year, Rudge partnered with a full-time chef, Joaquin Rodas, who began cooking nightly from a permanent outdoor kitchen, which was completed this spring.

Rudge said food preparation shifted to a mobile truck earlier this summer after health inspectors informed him the outdoor kitchen wasn’t up to code. On Friday, he said officials cited him for health violations and improper permitting.

A copy of the inspection report provided by the Department of Health and Hospitals on Tuesday evening indicated Friday’s visit was prompted by a complaint. The report listed nine violations, including several for improper food storage. One noted, “No permit was obtained for area outside.”

A DHH spokesperson said inspection reports generally take a week before they’re posted on the department’s website. The site does, however, contain three reports on Bacchanal dated Aug. 17. One listed 26 separate violations — four characterized as “critical” — ranging from an insufficient number of trash receptacles to “food contact surfaces” appearing “not clean to sight and touch.”

A message left with the New Orleans Fire Department was not returned Tuesday. A New Orleans Police Department spokesperson said an incident report from Friday night had been written “with one summons issued,” but had yet to be filed.

Rudge said he plans to resume Bacchanal’s food service as soon as he can arrange for a fully compliant mobile truck, perhaps later this week. He also vowed to continue building an up-to-code indoor kitchen on the premises.

“I’m trying to make this place 100-percent permitted,” Rudge said. “It wasn’t before, but I didn’t realize we were wrong. Right now we’re permitted for everything we’re currently doing and will not do anything in the future without studying it extensively.”